The Sense of Touch
by MyCedarChest
Summary: The most underutilized sense is the best.


**Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man and not to me, even in my wildest dreams. No infringement is intended in any way, and this story is not for profit.**

Pepper closed her eyes and sighed as she sat on her friend's couch waiting for her to return. She felt slightly nervous, butterflies in the stomach sort of thing as she waited alone. She looked down and gently laid her hand on her stomach. The touch of her hand was cushioned by her blouse, but as the heat of her hand penetrated down to skin, she suddenly felt calm and ready for the results of her test.

Dr. Karen Summers had been Pepper's friend since they had roomed together in college as freshmen. As Dr. Summers approached Pepper, she did her best to hide her emotions, but her professional mask broke quickly.

"That's why I would always beat you at poker in college, Kar." Pepper teased gently "Your face always leads your mouth."

"Hey" Karen replied smugly "So fire me. Wait you can't can you? I'm doing this as a favor for you, right?"

Karen sat on the couch next to Pepper holding a single sheet of paper in her hand quickly folding it to keep Pepper from seeing the printing.

Pepper turned to look at her, a mix of humor and impatience clearly evident on her face." Have I ever told you that you can be quite annoying?"

"Once or twice." Karen laughed heartily. Her face quickly switched back to a more serious look. "OK, here it is. Your hCG values are much higher than normal for conception being only being 14 days ago. Are you sure that Iron Man didn't get a little premarital nookie from you?" Karen waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Pepper.

Pepper frowned at her.

"I take that as a 'no'." Karen continued, unfazed by Pepper's look of growing annoyment "You know that your genetic makeup has an unusually high incidence of twin births. And you are in the age bracket where multiple ovulations do occur with more frequency. The high levels of hCG indicate multiple birth potential. Twins most likely, maybe even triplets. I ran the test 3 times so I am sure of the result"

Pepper unconsciously touched her stomach again. "Twins? Triplets?" she closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing down.

"Pepper" Karen interrupted "Don't faint on me. You are in great health and I want to keep you that way. I thought you said that raising a family was a priority with you and Tony."

"It is." Pepper answered opening her eyes and looking at Karen with the beginnings of a small smile. "It just happened so fast."

"It thought you said it happened slow and sensual!" Karen teased as Pepper ducked her head in embarrassment and poked Karen gently in the leg.

"Poor choice of words on my part." Pepper laughed looking up at her, as Karen handed her the sheet of paper.

"You should get that framed you know." Karen replied pointing at the paper "Empirical proof of the existence of Iron Babies. You know, for future historical/hysterical reference. When is the other half of this report due back from New York?"

"In about 3 hours." Pepper replied looking at her watch.

"This is me, your OB Gyn talking to you here. Listen up. You need to make an appointment to come see me at my office in 2 to 3 weeks." Karen said turning serious. "As of this moment you need to quit the caffeine for good, exercise more, get back into your yoga routines, and start taking naps when you **start** to feel tired. Don't let being CEO overrule being Baby Mama. Based upon your family's history, you may get the easy way out on the morning sickness. However…" Karen paused dramatically.

"However, what? Pepper asked raising her eyebrows in a questioning look, unsure of what was going to come out of Karen's mouth next.

"However" she continued a gleam appearing in her eyes. "Iron Man may be surprised at just how frisky his new Baby Mama will be. Let me break this down into one word for you: H.O.R.N.E.Y. Without the morning sickness to slow you down, your libido is going to go into warp drive. Go easy on him Pepper; he is practically an old man."

"I'll try to remember that when I have him handcuffed to the bed." Pepper deadpanned.

Karen laughed loudly, covering her eyes with her hands in a dramatic gesture. "Please don't give me visions like that. That's just not right!"

Pepper stood up with Karen and they hugged each other. "Thanks, Kar."

"My pleasure!." Dr. Summers replied, patting her on the arm "Now go home and take the afternoon off and take a nap. Doctor's orders!"

Pepper beamed at her. "I think I will."

Pepper changed into sweat pants and a comfortable cotton shirt when she got into their bedroom. She sighed and closed her eyes as she stood in front of her dresser. Her mind wondered back again to the report, which she had already framed and wrapped as a present for Tony later. Since she had left Karen's house, she started to notice that her hands seemed to move to cover her stomach unconsciously a lot more often now. She had always had the habit of crossing her arms as an unconscious act, but never rubbing her stomach. She smiled to herself as she pulled up her shirt and went over to the mirror to look at herself. "Iron Babies, huh!" She lowered his shirt and turned towards her bed. As she walked slowly towards the bed, she remembered back to the morning after their wedding night. Tony had commented on her looking 'different' and asked her if she thought she was pregnant. She admitted to herself now that maybe she did know then, but during the stress and emotional turmoil that followed their wedding night, she had been repressing the feeling. She sighed and lay down on the bed, closing her eyes and forcing herself to breathe deeply, relaxing her body as she focused on each major muscle group in turn. This was a technique that she had used for years for relaxation. She slowly drifted off to sleep only aware of the softness of the comforter under her body as the warm late afternoon sun shined down on her in the bed.

Two hours later, Tony quietly made his way to their bedroom after being warned by Jarvis that she was asleep. He quickly and quietly undressed and pulled on a pair of worn sweat pants. He slowly moved towards her, marveling at her angelic beauty while she slept. He had many devils in his life, but only one angel. She was indeed **his** angel. She was curled up on her side facing the center of the bed with her right hand tucked up under her shirt, lying gently against her stomach in what he noted was a protective fashion.

He crawled into bed as carefully as he could, so not to wake her. He turned to face her and relaxed as she softly snored in her sleep. He smiled and just continued to watch her sleep, obviously lost in a dream. He noticed that her right hand had started to rub her stomach in gentle circles. In a whispered tone she suddenly mumbled "Iron Babies." Tony's eyes went wide with excitement and he involuntarily sucked in a quick breath. She stirred and slowly moved her right hand towards him. He took her hand gently and kissed it tenderly. Suddenly her eyes flickered open as he held onto her hand. Pepper had always had the innate ability to wake up from a sound sleep totally awake and fully alert, even under the most adverse conditions.

"Hey gorgeous." He said quietly to her as she leaned into kiss him softly on the lips.

"Hey handsome." She replied pulling him into her with her right hand until they were stomach to stomach and chest to chest.

Tony breathed in her scent as her wrapped himself around her, and closed his eyes, immediately relaxing in her arms. "Jarvis told me that you had gone to see Karen today. But he refused to give me any details. You weren't bailing her out of jail again for leading some type of protest were you?" he whispered into her hair.

Pepper gently poked a finger in his ribs causing Tony to squirm in her arms. "I've only had to bail her out once and that was 13 years ago when we were in college." Pepper pulled back from him slightly until she could look fully into his amused eyes. "I went to visit her at her house."

"Just a visit, Mrs. Stark." Tony teased enjoying getting a small rise out her. He liked a feisty Pepper. But he knew better than to make her really mad these days, at least on purpose.

"Remember the morning after our wedding night?" she started as she gently tugged on his goatee as if to capture his full attention.

"Let me see…"he replied as he closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows as if deep in thought.

He opened his eyes to find her staring at him in amusement. "Are you having selective short term memory loss again? She asked her eyes lighting up with laughter, crinkling up the corners of her eyes slightly.

"Maybe." he replied leaning into her and kissing her deeply as he placed his hands under her shirt, gently rubbing her stomach and moving up to softly caress her breasts.

The heated touch of his hands on her stomach made her tremble involuntarily. A wave of passion suddenly washed over her. Pepper was surprised just how quickly she became fully aroused. She quickly pushed him back on the bed and wasted no time at all removing his sweat pants and shrugging out of her own clothes as she placed heated kisses to his face and neck. She smiled at the look of surprise on his face as she stroked his manhood firmly, feeling him harden quickly in her hand.

"Some of those memories coming back to you Mr. Stark?" she barely managed to get out before she slowly lowered herself onto his manhood until they were joined together.

Tony eyes were closed tightly now and she became aware of a deep earthy moan escaping his mouth as his face relaxed. His primal sound spurned her to instinctive, immediate action. She raised herself up on her arms supporting herself on his pectoral muscles. Not even opening his eyes, he immediately raised his hands and gently held onto her elbows to support her. She began to rock slowly, her own eyes closing, leaning more heavily towards him as she adjusted the angle between their bodies.

She became dimly aware of her own low moans as she gradually increased the speed of her rocking. She could now feel his hips rising up to meet hers on each down stroke and she felt herself pushing even harder down to meet his hips.

The sound of their sweat-sheened bodies sliding against each and their pants filled their bedroom as the sunlight began to fade with the coming of evening. Time seem to slow down for her as she listened to their shallow breathing in the quiet room. Keeping her eyes closed, she focused on his body, feeling the length and width of him move within her. She felt his hands tighten on her elbows as he pushed back against her, and she could hear his deep moans of pleasure as he sped up his hips slightly.

"Oh god, Pepper!" Tony breathed into her ear as she lowered her head to nuzzle his neck feeling her orgasm finally building to climax at full force.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders softly crying out, pulling him even closer to her as she continued feeling the waves of pleasure and release flow through her body. As if through a haze, she felt him move his hands to her hips as he continued to pump his hips into her. Suddenly she was aware of warmth flooding her as Tony came with a loud groan, pulling firmly at her hips until he had emptied himself fully into her. The last thing she was aware of was the touch of his hands slowly and gently stroking up and down her back.

When she woke up the bedroom was dark. She realized she was still draped over him, her head lying at the junction of his neck and chest. She could hear him snoring softly, feeling one hand on her hip and the other on her back.

"Jarvis" she whispered turning her head away from him in an effort to be quiet, but still heard. "Lights 20 percent, please."

Jarvis silently turned up the lighting level of the bedroom.

Tony started to stir, moving his hands slightly as she placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. She turned her head towards his face and watched his eyelids flicker once and then open revealing his bourbon eyes turning to immediately find her own in the dim light of the room.

He smiled as leaned his head up to hers and kissed her softly on her nose. "I seem to be getting my memory back now." He teased rolling them over to the middle of the bed. "The morning after our wedding night was very similar to this."

"Yes it was." She agreed. "But the particular memory I was referring to was where you asked me if I felt pregnant."

Tony's eyes opened wider in anticipation of her explanation for wanting him to remember that part of their conversation. He slowly rose up on his left arm, wrapping his right one around her stomach leaning his body over hers. "Yes, and…"

"I'm pregnant, and" she started as he quickly pulled her into a tight hug effectively stopping her from speaking further.

He moved his head slightly to nuzzle her neck and she became aware of sensation of dampness against her neck. She could feel his body gently shaking against hers. She realized that he was crying. She reached her arms around him pulling him even tighter to her.

"Oh, Tony." She whispered in a low, comforting voice. She held on to him, rubbing soothing circles on his back until she felt him grow still in her arms. "We are going to have babies."

He pulled away from her suddenly, and she saw tears in his eyes as he tried to blink them rapidly away. "Did you say babies, as in more than one, as in twins?"

"Karen ran a test on me today, and based on the level of hCG in my blood, as well as my family history and age, we have a good shot at having twins or even triplets." She quietly explained as his mouth turned from somber into a wide grin.

"I always said that I wanted to have a whole soccer team with you!" He teased as he kissed her tenderly on the lips "This will be a great start!"

Seeing his face light up and the playful look come back into his eyes, she couldn't help herself. "Karen did tell me that I needed to take it easy on you, though."

Tony looked at her suspiciously. He did not know Karen well, but he knew her well enough to be wary when Karen was concerned about **his** well being. "Easy on me, huh? I should be taking it easy on you, not the other way around." He replied as he moved his hand to her face and caressed her cheek tenderly.

"Well, since it looks like I will be escaping morning sickness because of my Potts genes, Karen seems to think that my new, unrestrained, and totally out of control sex drive will be too much for you to handle."

He smiled wickedly at her and leaned down to kiss her hard on the lips. "Oh I don't know, Mrs. Stark, I might be able to handle you **and** your out of control sex drive well enough."

"I thought so." She replied and she pulled him down on top of her and into a warm, loving hug.

He gently pulled out of the hug, kissing her on the cheek and he slowly moved his body down on the bed, planting small, warm kisses along her body as he moved. He came to a rest, hugging her hips and laying his cheek on her lower abdomen directly above her womb, his face turned towards hers. He opened his eyes as he looked up to focus on her face, and locked eyes with her. "Jarvis and I have actually been doing research on being a daddy. There is evidence supporting that daddy baby bonding occurs before birth through voice recognition. So here goes." With that said he turned his head until his lips were pressed close to her stomach, speaking in a quiet, deep voice. "Hey Stark Babies, this is your Daddy. I'm new to this daddy thing, so you may need to cut me some slack. But I just wanted to let you know that I love you and I promise to be the best dad I can be for you. So be good for your Mom and don't give her too hard of a time while you're waiting to be born." With that said he closed his eyes and pressed 3 tender kisses onto her stomach.

Pepper's breath caught in her throat as she watched Tony. She never expected him to react in such a way. She reached down and gently ran her fingers through his messy hair.

"I love you, Baby Mama." He softly said opening his eyes, looking deeply into her eyes, as he moved his hand to lie where his lips had just kissed her stomach.

As his large hand covered her stomach, Pepper could feel the warmth from his hand soak deep inside of her. His touch was soothing, making her relax immediately. She smiled at him, moving her fingers to stroke his cheek tenderly.

"And I love you, Iron Dad." She said quietly her smile widening.

His eyes brightened at the new name. "Iron Dad, huh? **That **has a nice ring to it."


End file.
